38 Comments

Check out Blue Moon Camera in Portland, OR. They sell film cameras and refurbished typewriters.

A little story for you: I used to help teach photography workshops, and some students would show up with some budget-busting gear; often they were snooty toward those with less top-of-the-line cameras and lenses. I always started my part of the class, early on Day One, with this question: What kind of typewriter did Ernest Hemingway use?

The answer, of course, was "What difference did it make?"

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Ha! Oh to have seen the looks on those students' faces... 😀

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I've recently downsized and let go of a dining table and chairs, a double bed and three bookcases (and the books for those three). But I couldn't let go of my late husband's typewriter or my Olivetti Lettera 22, bought with my teenage, hard-earned savings in 1960s.

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A definite keeper, Raili. We had a picture of the Olivetti assembly line in issue 14 https://typetown.substack.com/p/issue14

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So inspiring keep it up sir .

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Thanks Faith!

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this is a great topic. As a longtime journalist and editor/fiction writer, I often miss the touch and feel of my first typewriter on the job at a suburban newspaper. I miss that, and am encouraged to try to find and buy one to use in my current writing.

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There's no shortage of machines available on second-hand websites and in thrift stores. Good luck!

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Thanks. Will look. Mo

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I love this and can't wait to check out Neil's Substack! I have been desperately searching for a Yiddish typewriter in London for about a year and so far no dice!

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Keep looking Natasha, something will turn up!

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I love it and have subscribed. There is definitely something about the clicking of a typewriter and especially the sound of the carriage going back at the end of a line.

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Thanks Roland, glad to have you!

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That owl is amazing.

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Isn't it just? Check out some of Jeremy's other work here https://www.jeremymayer.com. Some of the larger pieces are genuinely mind-boggling.

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Now I want a typewriter! lol

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Join the club! 😀

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1) Justice Hans Linde's small manual typewriter, with his typed note rolled in it, is on display in the Oregon Supreme Court lobby. He had upgraded but wanted people to see his earlier technology. 2) See typewriter rescuer Thomas Furrier on CBS Saturday, 12-4-21.

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Thanks Ariel, I'll check it out!

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Jack Kerouac used an Underwood to type On The Road on a roll of teletype paper in 3 days.

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Three DAYS?! Imagine the RSI after that... 😀

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Love the photo selection!!! 😍 My dad just gave me his type machine, I want to use it asap!

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Go for it! 🙂

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Hello! Of course, for part of my life, typewriters and I have been faithful companions..... until the computer came along! I worked for many years as a clerk and had to use those wonderful typewriters.... My fingers ached after some time typing! Then came the electric typewriters.... So many memories!

Thanks for the recommendation, Neil!

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Great to see people continue to share and add to, history! We bone. 🗣🇺🇸

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typewriters are seriously long gone,at the age of laptops,those days of typewriters are so over.

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Unless they are modern a no electric option might come in handy!

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Do readers know the Typewriter Concerto? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naxsn5ymZI4

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We've had versions of it in issue 1 (Leroy Anderson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVFR7wDZT9A) and issue 16 (Jerry Lewis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEhuX-4OUaQ). Always a favourite!

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Good article. Good not to forget things that have served us in the past. Electronic typewriters was an effort to catch up with the changing times. However, technology keeps on improving and now it is changing faster than ever. The coming generations, however, would not be able to imagine life without computers and would find typewriters as antique pieces.

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